The Speakeasy Club, UK
The Speakeasy Club was a club at 48 Margaret Street, London, operating between 1966 and June 1978. It was a popular UK night-life venue for musicians and members of the recording industry, providing a bar, restaurant and performance stage. It was host to many of the popular UK rock acts, along with the nearby venue The Marquee Club.
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Frank Zappa
1960s Speakeasy visits
On 17 August 1967, John Peel interviewed Frank Zappa at the Speakeasy Club. Zappa introduced Cream at The Speakeasy that same night. In October 1967, Zappa and the Mothers performed at the Speakeasy, playing advance material from We're Only In It For The Money.
In The Real Frank Zappa Book, Zappa wrote that in 1967 or 1968 he was in the Speakeasy in London, where a member of the group The Flock approached him about The Infamous Shit-Eating-On-Stage Contest, unaware that this was an urban legend. Zappa remembered that when he told him the truth, it looked "like I had just broken his heart." Zappa also told this anecdote in the 1979 interview Zappa, 79/8
Another time, Zappa also had an unpleasant encounter with Brian Jones (The Rolling Stones) at the Speakeasy. In Faves, Raves And Composers In Their Graves, June 1975: "I remember seeing Brian Jones very drunk in the Speakeasy one night and telling him I like it and thought it superior to Sergeant Pepper... whereupon he belched discreetly and turned around."
Prior to FZ's appearance at The Royal Albert Hall, some FZ events that revolved around The Speakeasy appear in the book "Mother! The Frank Zappa Story" by Michael Gray, as partially recounted by Pamela Zarubica, and after FZ's marriage to Gail;
"Zappa was delighted to find that in England he was regarded as a bona fide rock star. His presence was noticed as soon as he arrived; a buzz went round. Pete Townsend came up, introduced himself, and later they went to the Speakeasy. There they bumped into Noel Redding and Zappa was picked up by Jimi Hendrix's girlfriend Kathy Etchingham. Within 24 hours, Zappa had succeeded in becoming the center of attention among the London equivalent of his old L.A. freak crowd. Pam remembers that the rest of The Mothers stayed in their cheaper, separate hotel while Zappa and she found their room at the Royal Garden filled with Beautiful People. "A room full of groupies, a photographer who was supposed to be making a movie of this whole thing but whose main interest is taking shots up girls' dresses... Hendrix was there too. Later that evening, it was back to the Speakeasy where Frank stood at the bar drinking scotch with Jeff Beck..."
1970s Speakeasy visits
On ??/??/1970, Aynsley Dunbar met with Frank Zappa at The Speakeasy and joined his band.
